History of Equestria
A special thanks to Hlissner for making an incredible map. Many parts of it will be included in this campaign. Please see Differences from Hlissner's "Equestria and Beyond" Map for added details on what is and is not featured in this campaign. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS CAMPAIGN TAKES PLACE DIRECTLY AFTER SEASON 3 EPISODE 1. TWILIGHT IS NOT AN ALICORN, DISCORD IS NOT TAMED, AND RAINBOW DASH IS NOT A WONDERBOLT. The Time Before Equestria was not always peaceful; before the Princesses took over, there was a time of Strife. The War of the Three Tribes split the three pony species apart, and the war was long, and terrible, ended only by the leaders being frozen, and their second in commands becoming friends; an admittedly unortodox strategy but useful nonetheless. Equestria grew from that point on, eventually also gaining its own smaller city-states on its fringes including Prance, Germaneigh, and Gildedale. The country of Equestria grew to become a large and prosperous kingdom, alongside its neighbor to the east, The Crystal Empire. However, its leader, King Sombra Crystalheart, withdrew from Equestria, and started to build weapons of war. Believing that Equestria was going to become attacked and destroyed, the Princesses banished Sombra, only to watch the entire Crystal Empire disappear... Years went on, and the Princesses had a dispute that began and ended with Nightmare Moon, and the introduction of one Twilight Sparkle and her friends. They defeated many foes, including Discord, Queen Chrysalis, and even King Sombra himself. However, not all was well... for something dark crept through the worlds. The Invasion It was seemingly a simple day in Equestria. The sun was high and bright, and the ponies of Canterlot were going about their business. Sure the Princesses had not been seen in weeks, but they were still doing their job. Then... the darkness came. Almost like a plague, the darkness crept over the city like a dark cloud. Creature sof perversion and destruction attacked the city. The weakened and feeble guards, not used to a full scale assault, were swept aside. In mere hours, Canterlot was sieged and taken by these unknown foes. Survivors quickly ran, trying to escape as they described the darkness as best they could... they described corruption, forcing its way into ponies and turning them into perverted or twisted versions of who they once were. Those ponies seemed almost possesed, only thinking about converting others into their dark folds. Ponyville heard the news, and Twilight Sparkle, deemed in charge by the remnants of the Elder Council, started an evacuation of the city while she and her friends attempted the last line of defense for Equestria: the Elements of Harmony. The Elements came together one final time, shining like the sun... but in the face of the corruption, it shattered, the dust of what used to be the Elements scattering to the wind. As the remnants of the Equestrian Military fought, many pegasi started to retreat, falling back one by one leaving the unicorns and earth ponies to fight alone. Losing nearly a third of their military, the remnants were swept aside by the overwhelming force of the Corruption. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, evacuated as many civilians as they could, while Applejack hurried to her family's farm. Applebloom, Big Mac, and Granny Smith prepared a last line of defense so that the survivors could escape, but the resistance was too storng. Applebloom was attacked and knocked unconcious, and Granny SMith told her family to leave her behind... that she would only slow them down. It was on that day Applejack made the hardest choice of her life... to leave the only parental figure she had left behind to die, or worse... Ponyville burned that day, and many ponies were lost. That was merely the beginning of the end of Equestria... The Fall of Cloudsdale During the Fall of Ponyville, many Pegasi fled the battle, making their way to Cloudsdale, Las Pegasus and many other floating cities. Called by the Wonderbolts, Pegasi everywhere converged on those cities, deeming the land to be lost, and hoping that their cities would be saved... They were wrong. One by one, the floating cities fell. Corrupted, then sent crashing to the earth. Hundreds of thousands of ponies died in the fighting and the subsequent destruction of the floating cities until only a pair of them were left: Cloudsdale, capital of the pegasi, and Skyhallow, a small cloud fortress. The battle for Cloudsdale lasted a week; and resulted in every member of the Wonderbolts being coverted or killed as they fought with their pegasi bretheren. The Pegasi fought their hardest, but it was all for naught as the Corrupted soon swarmed over the city. Retreating to Skyhallow, the Pegasi moved the floating fortress away from their ruined capital... just in time to see it plummet to the earth. With her dying breath, Spitfire, leader of the Wonderbolts and de-facto Pegasi Commander, named Rainbow Dash the new leader of the Pegasi species. The Coming of the Order and the Rise of the Districts The survivors of Ponyville were at a loss... they had no home, no future without their town... and no way to defend themselves. Finding themselves camping at the foot of Dragon Mountain, the survivors found themselves looking towards the sky which had been in eternal Twilight since the Invasion. WHat had happened to the Princesses? What was going on...? No one knew. Twilight Sparkle climbed the mountain, searching for answers about herself, and what to do. No one knows what happened to her at the summit, but an hour after she climbed the mountain, the sun finally set, and she came down knowing the secret of Celestial Magic. Thsu the foundation for a new Order was born; focusing themselves to protect the survivors from the Corruption, and to loyally serve the Princess' tenants even in this new Era. Calling themselves the Celestial Order, the Order formed a city around the foot of Dragon Mountain, a city that soon grew to a metropolis, a safe haven from the Corruption that struck the world. Naming this haven the Magic District, Twilight soon found herself at the lead of an Order that was just as large as any military Equestria ever had. Soon after this, Applejack and her family hired a large amount of soldiers and warriors, fighting their way back to their own farm miles from Ponyville. There, they reclaimed their own home, and discovered the fate of their grandmother. Dead in the center of a massive pile of Corrupted the old grandmother appeared to have suffered a heart attack while she fought, and died admist those she had slain. In honor of their grandmother and the ponies that were lost during the retreat, Applejack created the Earth District. A haven for farmers and soldiers aline, the Earth District contained every acre of the Apple Family land heavily fortified and producing all-important food. Supported by the newly-christened Order, the Earth District became the primary farming and food production District. Leading the few remaining Pegasi, Rainbow Dash soon found herself commanding them from the center of Skyhallow, the ancient fortress transforming itself into a massive bastion and fortress for war. Hovering in the lands between the Earth and Magic Districts, a third city began to form. Believing the Princesses to have abandoned them, many pegasi became staunch believers that the princesses were dead and the world needed a new leadership. Fights broke out between the Pegasi and the other two peoples, until the Mane 6 themselves decalred an end to the fighting and an uneasy truce. The Sky District, as the lands under Skyhallow came to be named, would be in charge of scouting and aerial defenses. Earth District would handle food, and the Magic District would handle other defenses. With this agreement, the Three Districts were founded completely; the last three bastions of ponykind in Equestria. The Fall of the Undercity Hundreds of miles to the north, another race was having their own troubles. Fighting off the Corruption themselves, the Diamond Dogs soon found their paws full with hundreds of corrupted ponies surging into their ancestral home. The fighting was fierce, but every Corrupted they destroyed, ten more seemed to take their place. The Diamond dogs were facing extinction, when there was a revalation. Some of them heard of the District's formation; and as a last ditch effort, the Diamond Dogs left their Undercity beneath the mountains; making their way through Equestria's northern borders and to the Earth District. It was there they were accepted by Applejack and her family, and Applebloom herself soon took a liking to the diamond dogs. Offering technology of war, steel, metals and more the Diamond Dogs soon started to forge arms and armor for the Districts, cementing their relationship and their place within the Earth District. The Burning of Cervidas Across Eternity's Corssing the massive sea south of Equestria another race fought their own battles. The Deer, a delicate and powerful race unmatched with their magical affinity and grace, were fighting back the corruption in the forests of Cervidas. One by one their outposts fell, their companions and army turned against them as they were corrupted. The Deer fiercely protected their capital, Concordia itself, and the ancient World-Tree of Yrileth. The World Tree was their prized posession, grown on the Ley Lines themselves as it drew its power from the very world's magic. And as fate would have it... they won. Pushing back the Corruption, the Deer managed to earn themselves a reprieve. The Honor Guard, ancient protectors of the tree and the Emperess herself, decided to offer their help to Equestria against the Corruption. But when they crossed the sea, all they found was the remnants of a once great nation, and three cities all that remained. Even though they had pushed back the Corruption, mcuh of Cervidas was destroyed. Its once lush forests burned to the ground... many of the Deer crossed the sea, and found a home with the Magic District, offering their help so that the world would be rid of the Corruption once and for all. The Six Tribes Long before the Corruption first invaded, the Zebras of Zebrica were Shamans. Ritualistic and powerful, communing with nature. They sensed something dangerous was coming... and so they started to act. Moving their entire country was no easy task; but their nomad lifestyles aided the endeavor as they mvoed north, through the lands of the Buffalo, and into the borders of Equestria. But by then, it was too late. Ashamed by their slow movement and their failure to provide aid, the leader of the Zebras, the Grand Shaman, stepped down and exiled herself, enver to be seen again. In her place, she appointed a zebra who had herself been banished long ago... a zebra named Zecora. Uniting the Tribes under her rule took some time, but when it was complete she spread them out between the Districts suing the shamanistic powers of her people to lend aid to the wounded, and stave off injuriy and disease. Zecora herself moved into the Earth District with her close friend Applebloom; and the Earth District eventually become the home for a majority of Zebras, who use their shamanistic powers to aid the crops the ponies there grow. One of the first ponies to join them was the gentle, shy Fluttershy. She asked how she could better commune with nature, and aid the creatures as she had once done. Becoming a student of Zecora, Fluttershy soon grew to become a powerful and strong Shaman in her own right. The Four Clans North of Equestria, in the northern edge of the ancient and vast Drakenridge Mountains, the Gryphons themselves had always lived a lifestyle of strength and combat. The Four Clans themselves chose everything by fighting; and the strongest became the Clan-King of the Gryphons. However, when the Corruption came, the gryphons found themselves facing stronger foes than every before... but it was then that an important discovery was made. Corruption made you stronger. The resulting schism in the Clans soon had two clans leaving the Griffon Kingdoms, never to return as the Kingdoms were overrun, aided by the other two clans who came to be known as the "Lost Clans". Finding themselves in Equestria, the Gryphons allied themselves with the Pegasi, where their strength and power complimented the seedy and agile Pegasi immensely. The Changeling Void Chrysalis' hive had disappeared. It was this news that spread liike wildfire, weeks before the Corrupted invaded. Three Queens stepped up hoping to fill the power void that Chrysalis had left. The fighting lasted a full week between hives, until the Corruption hit. The Corruption found its way into many hives; and the CHangelings soon learned that they had a natural weakness to the corruptive influence. Hive after hive fell, until the Changelings fled their hives, heading towards the DIstricts as they were founded. Finally, as the Districts were established as their new homes, it was finally revealed that only three Queens remained... *Anaxa, the soft, gentle Queen and leader of Anaxa Hive, felt that the only way they could survive as a race, was to ally and aid the other races. Without their help, she thought, the Changeling Race was doomed to be absorbed by the Corruption. *Locust, the neutral queen and leader of Plague Hive, felt that the Changelings should find a new land, a new country to settle and draw their love from. Abandon their homes, as soon as they were storng enough to, and leave the other races behind. *Miasma, Fifteen princess of Chrysalis, and just as cruel and cunning, led the Crimson Hive. Miasma believed, like her mother, that ponies and the other races only existed to feed the changelings. While they were forced to stay in the shadows, Miasma plans to one day invade the District she resides in and enslave it under her own iron grip. Only time will tell who shall win between the three Queens... The Multiverse Conundrum Eight months after the Gryphons arrived, a strange phenomenon started to become experienced. Ponies began to see their dopplegangers, exact replicas of themselves, but for a few differences. Investigating the happenings Twilight Sparkle soon found that the news was dire. Other realities other dimensions and versions of Equestria one by one were being destroyed. Wiped out by the Corruption. Every single new pony that arrived told similar stories of how the Corruption took over and then, they awoke to find themselves there. The implications were as dangerous as they were incredible. Other universes other realities, being wholly destroyed by the Corruption...? Such a thing was unheard of... and incredibly bad news. The Mane 6 made a vow upon learning of this. They would make sure that this reality did not fall, even if it cost their lives... The Winter Comes... A year has passed since then. The Districts continually accept new survivors every day, but now, a dangerous situation has developed. the Earth District is no longer able to feed all of the peoples in the three Districts. Winter, unmanaged by the Pegasi, approaches quickly... and there was only a short time to prepare. What will happen? What may come? No one knows what is in store in...